The Work of Peace: World War One, Justice and Translation Through Art

"Jennifer Balint, Neal Haslem and Kirsten Haydon argue that law, despite its silences and failures, can nevertheless effect societal change in the long run. For this to happen, the records that legal instruments and proceedings leave behind need to be 'translated' to the individuals and society to which they are directed. In their view, art is a potent vehicle to achieve this because it creates personal spaces within public spaces. These personal spaces facilitate engagement with, and recognition of, the meaning of law and its failures, as demonstrated by two art projects realized in Australia. The first of these projects, Minutes of Evidence, combines archival records and theatrical performance to address the unequal relations between Aboriginal residents and European settlers. The second project, Flowers of War, combines historical objects and visual arts to convey the enormity of war to a public that has never been confronted with it. Similar initiatives, based on international court proceedings, petitions filed before the League of Nations, or archival records of the interwar period, might perhaps one day address the various instances in which the Paris peace treaties eventually failed to establish peace through law." M. Erpelding In H. Ruiz Fabri, B. Hess & M. Erpelding (Eds.) 'Peace through Law': The Versailles Peace Treaty and dispute settlement after WWI. United Kingdom: Nomos Press. (p. 28).